Uttarakhand: Cooperative federalism or is PM Modi imposing his diktat?

BJP MP Chandan Mitra and BJD Lok Sabha MP Pinaki Misra participated in a debate on the political crisis in Chhattisgarh.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi came to power promising cooperative federalism and was widely praised for it. However, after dismissing two state governments in just three months, many say that his use of Article 356 is reminiscent of Indira Gandhi. So has the prime minister betrayed his own commitm

Prime Minister Narendra Modi came to power promising cooperative federalism and was widely praised for it. However, after dismissing two state governments in just three months, many say that his use of Article 356 is reminiscent of Indira Gandhi. So has the prime minister betrayed his own commitment or is the comparison to Indira Gandhi unjustified?

"The prime minister can't be blamed if Congress governments in some states start imploding...and it's wrong to compare PM Modi with Indira Gandhi. She dismissed state governments at the drop of a hat," BJP MP Chandan Mitra told India Today.

"Even if Congress governments are imploding, they should be allowed to fall on the floor of the House," rebutted BJD Lok Sabha MP Pinaki Misra.

Mitra and Misra participated in a debate on the political crisis in Chhattisgarh. The other experts on the show, Karan Thapar's To The Point, included Congress' former foreign minister Salman Khurshid, CPM's Central Secretariat member Nilotpal Basu, and well known Asian Age columnist Ashok Malik.

"Even if Congress governments are imploding, they should be allowed to fall on the floor of the House," rebutted BJD's Pinaki Misra.

6 Shailendra Singhal: Started criticising government after no Cabinet berth

7 Subodh Uniyal: Became rebel after no Cabinet berth

8: Kunwar Pranav Singh: Neither close to Rawat or Bahuguna

9: Umesh Sharma: Staunch supporter of Bahuguna

Other top quotes from the debate

- "PM Modi is committed to the cooperative federalism, his level of engagement with states proves that." - Chandan Mitra

- "We all know who is responsible for all this, they are deliberately destabilising state govts." - Nilotpal Basu, CPM.

- "Allowing Harish Rawat to prove his majority in the House would have been advisable." - Ashok Malik.

- "Our allies can also criticise us and they remain our allies even after that." - Chandan Mitra.

- "A CM is caught on camera offering money to buy MLAs, how much lower can you go than this." - Chandan Mitra.

- "There is enough material available today to judge what this [Modi] government is doing." - Salman Khurshid.

- "No political or constitutional crisis has arisen in West Bengal because Mamata Banerjee has majority with her." - Chandan Mitra

- "Net transfer to the states has reduced, cooperative federalism is selective these days." - Nilotpal Basu

- "President Mukherjee should not have proclaimed President's rule in this manner." - Pinaki Misra.

- "Essentially this is the decision of a central government and they chose Republic Day to dismiss a state government... President's rule in Uttarakhand and Arunachal is an error of judgement by President, but the principal onus is on the Centre." - Nilotpal Basu

- "President must be complemented for having prevented travesty of democracy and horse trading." - Chandan MitraWatch the full debate here: